Pickup artist and wannabe video game media mogul Roosh Valizadeh tries to lure gamers to his site by insulting them

Roosh Valizadeh — the pickup artist and would-be video game media mogul — is still trying to convince gamers that even though he’s not one of them he’s on their side. Earlier this week, Roosh reached out to GamerGaters with a paid advertorial in The Ralph Retort, a GamerGate-centric internet tabloid, in which he tried to explain who he was and why gamers should trust him.

But he couldn’t even make it to the end of his little spiel without insulting the dudes his new video game website Reaxxion is trying to appeal to, contrasting the escapism of video games with the difficult but necessary work he and his followers do. By which he means the hard work they do trying to convince drunk women to have sex with them.

[A]ll guys devote a certain amount of time of their day to consuming entertainment that breaks up the drudgery of life. Meeting girls, make no doubt about it, is work. Approaching women and dating them is difficult and takes a serious devotion of energy and mental resources. Playing games, on the other hand, while tactically challenging, is more relaxing for men in that it’s a method to unwind from life’s stresses.

Also, if you’re trying to pick up women, you have to remember to clean out the boogers in your nose and wipe your ass. And we know how Roosh feels about that.

Comments

I do have to wonder how many Channers who claim to be autistic actually are. I would not be surprised if some of them self diagnosed because they’re socially awkward and have trouble relating to people then used that self diagnosis as an excuse to be an asshole. Just the way they talk about autism from what I’ve seen doesn’t seem genuine at all.

It’s quite condescending and ableist to act like autistic people are not capable of learning the difference between right and wrong or modifying inappropriate behavior. My brother is on the lower functioning end of the scale than anyone in the chan culture is and he can do it. So can they (if they are telling the truth in the first place).

The blaming bad behavior on autism trend really, really needs to die in a fire.

@kirbywarp:
Sorry, it’s a bit late for a reply, but I’m not sure I understand what you were telling me. I mean, it was pretty obvious from the start that GG was not about gaming, however I’m still wondering why in the nine hells people would make “Thing X” the core of their movement’s identity (even though we know it’s just an excuse) and then ally with people who have a history of insulting “Thing X”. Then again, I’ve seen stranger bedfellows, so I shouldn’t be surprised when it happens. I’m reminded of the time when the late Andrea Dworkin got stuck campaigning against porn alongside the religious right.

(Or something like that, I think. I was too young to be aware of all that at the time, and I’m going from what I seem to remember reading. Please do correct me if I’m wrong.)

“sealioning” is when a commenter produces a #notallmen, but words it in such a way that they can pretend they are polite and genuinely interested, and definitely aren’t just trying to shut the conversation down. I think the name originated here:

Basically, a person who enters a space and are impolite despite using ‘polite’ — or just thinking they are using ‘polite’ language when they aren’t really — and consistently try to debate or JAQ-off.

In case you don’t know what JAQing off is, it’s when someone disingenuously insists that they are Just Asking a Question, when they really aren’t interested in an answer, or are just going to debate everything for the sake of debating, and not debating for the sake of finding a truth.

@Leah: I know every time I turn on my XBox, I hear a chorus of feminists creep up behind me with their persecutin’ pitchforks in hand.

When I turn on my Playstation, I hear the angered chords of a horde of feminists enraged that a man is logging on to rearrange colorful blocks for a few minutes, and expressing themselves through chamber music.

I’m playing Septerra Core from GOG right now, as a matter of fact! I had no idea this site existed until a couple of weeks ago, and I am head over heels for it. Already bought System Shock (was $3 on a Halloween special), and next up is Icewind Dale 1 and 2. Pure. Heaven.

I’m trying for the umpteenth time to get through Baldur’s Gate 2. The furthest I’ve ever gotten was into the Underdark; there’s a small dwarf mine there where you can rest and buy some stuff.

It occurs to me to wonder why so many vendors outside of the actual city sell you basic arms and weapons. Is it verisimilitude? There was a chance in Baldur’s Gate 1 that your gear would break, because of the iron crisis. But by the time I’ve done even just a couple of quests out of the Slums in Athkatla, I’ve got more magic armor than I can wear (given that three of my party are multi- or dual-classed mages).

I enjoyed Icewind Dale 1, but didn’t get very far in Icewind Dale 2. I am looking forward to exploring how the latter game implements the 3rd Edition rules.

Not very well, in my opinion. Partly it’s the 3rd edition rules’ fault. They actually implemented stuff like level adjustment for supernatural creatures that were disastrous in tabletop as well. But frankly, most of the innovations of 3rd translate poorly to the crpg format. Baldur’s Gate 2 actually implemented a lot of the best things about third edition, like sorcerers, monks, and barbarians, and its “kits” were on par with feats. Icewind Dale 2 isn’t bad, but it doesn’t feel radically different from the Gate. It’s pretty much more of the same.

I sort of wish we had separate words we had separate words for “posters who are disruptive and poorly behaved” and “posters who are deceitful and malicious”

I second the notion. Notion, not motion. No real rule-making here!

That said…

I hereby recommend the reclassification of the following types of trolls from their previously understood taxanomic relations. We believe that similarities between the two types are purely analogous, and not homologous. Furthermore, the two (previously considered under the same taxon) should be recognized as distinct taxa, as distinguished by underlying behavioral mechanisms and differences in behavior as individual trolls migrate across multiple web-stands.

Troll-Type-1 is distinguished by continual disingenuousness and all around poor behavior, with an intent to aggravate other organisms in the webpage biome.

Troll-Type-2 is outwardly similar to Troll-Type-1, and can sometimes be confused with Troll-Type-1. However, Troll-Type-2 is consistent in behavior and presumed ethics across multiple web pages and can be identified as generally honest in opinions and representations of themselves, despite being obnoxious, incorrect, and/or insulting in those represented opinions.

The author of this comment recommends that Troll-Type-1 be reclassified under the name sealionia bipedis, common name “Sealion”. It should remain in the Family Trollidae

We recommend removing Troll-Type-2 from Trollidae and moving it to Family Honesteadae, under the new name Behavioralia pooris, with common name “BP”, or alternatively, “Siroop”.

It can only be hoped that BP’s will be develop in a convergent manner towardscommentaria regularis in displaying more appropriate commenting behavior.

(This terribad misappropriation of biological, evolutionary, ecological, and taxonomic nomenclature is now over…)

@kootiepatra I’ve heard so much of that in response to the UVA case. Right away the college president and a bunch of pundits jump in with ideas about bystander prevention and who can serve what kind of alcohol and someone might put something in your drink… not a word about how RAPISTS are the problem. No one in that story was raped by a beer, but by a PERSON. Rapists aren’t coming up with fresh new ways to get away with their crime – they’re accessing the same garbage culture that has enabled them all along.

How about trying to create a culture that respects women and our autonomy and agency? Too complex for academia?

Hey, Crissa, how about you refrain from brushing off other people’s experiences of harassment on public transit? If it’s not a regular occurrence for you, great, awesome, you sure are lucky! But for many women who take public transit, it’s a frequent problem, and when they’re telling you that, you should listen.

Yeah, I was giving this the side eye yesterday and I’m one of those women privileged similarly to Crissa.

(This terribad misappropriation of biological, evolutionary, ecological, and taxonomic nomenclature is now over…)

And needs to be a Wondermark cartoon soonest! I’m noodling about in the archives right now…

one of the most heartening things I’ve ever seen on the CTA involved a guy roaming around being obviously inappropriate when another man walked up to him, said “you’re creeping me out. Go stand over there” and basically put the creeper in time-out. He then stood guard over him until the guy got off the train.

@Orion: So what’s so disastrous about level adjustment? Yeah, it means that one friend of mine who’s always wanted to play a beholder has to get used to disappointment, but I played in a six- or seven-month campaign and Beloved played a tiefling wizard and we didn’t think the one level she lagged behind us was a big problem.

@saphy: I played Neverwinter Nights until all the areas started to blend together and I started to miss having a full party. But it was fun. I enjoyed Neverwinter Nights 2, but I haven’t finished it yet (are you detecting a pattern?).

I found the original NWN to be SO buggy that I had to give up just as I reached the final battle. Infuriating but I had had enough.

I have finished NWN2 several times! I like the relationships within the party, how it affects the gameplay in different ways. I liked to play as different characters: as myself, as the other gender, as an evil bastard, etc. I was disappointed that being a bad leader of the keep and army didn’t really negatively affect the later battles, though.

Also the limited romance options were annoying. Hetero and even then only one of each gender available for romancin’.

@saphy: Well, the game is several years old. The trans character in Dragon Age Inquisition seems to be the only thing anyone can talk about, regarding that game, so there’s progress.

I started to see, more than a pattern, a formula in Bioware games of the 00s. You’ll get to the end of the game and have to fight the woman that started you on the plot. You fight the paladin in Neverwinter Nights, you fight the Jedi Bastila Shan in Knights of the Old Republic … I never got very far in Jade Empire, my computer kept looping around the first ornithopter minigame and depositing me in the Doomed Hometown I just left.

It seems a pretty standard “Woah look where the narrative has gone now AREN’T YOU SURPRISED AND CONFLICTED” plot device for the lazy or formulaic writer, doesn’t it?

The main thing that bothered me with NWN2 was the same thing that bothers me in a lot of narratives: the timeline. So the player character was wounded as a baby by the sword belonging to the warlock who fought King of Shadows, and it’s a major plot point driving your whole ‘hero narrative’, and then you get to talking about it with other characters and they’re all like “Wow what is the King of Shadows” or inferring that it was ages ago and partially lost in the mists of time and I’m like “wtf, my standard human character is probably about 25, WHO FORGETS AN EPIC SUPERNATURAL SHADOW BATTLE IN 25 YEARS”. It can only work if you’re playing as an elf with a few centuries under the belt and even then it’s not quite satisfactory because there would be loads of other old elves who would remember it.

@kittehserf: Oh, how I pine for the days of superdogs and extended lectures on the Spanish alphabet! He came back, once, a few months ago, but all he did was scoff once and bugger off again. I’m not sure how to find it, we talk about him plenty enough to confuse any Google search.

Those were the great trolls of legend, weren’t they, Falconer? Dr Pell with his multiple academic qualifications, his hospitals, his helicopters that flew him from Harvard to Princeton for his same-day lectures, and not least, his Uncle Monty … Owly with his alphabets, his superdogs, his frothrage at women being able to get anything by sitting crying on the kerb … Meller, who was frankly creepier than the pair of them combined … Antz, with his plans for virtual sex to combat the terror of his wife walking out on him, and dividing the US along the Mississippi (or was it the Missouri?) … ah, the trolls of today cannot touch them.

Puddleglum – couldn’t be narwhals, at least, ‘cos they are the chosen steed of Sir Catspian, after all.

In Jade Empire you fight the DUDE who started you on your quest. Okay, also the spirit lady, but only if you’re evil. Excuse me, I meant only if you’re a follower of “the way of the closed fist” which is totally a real philosophy and not at all a paper-thin rationalization for being a douche.
—
I’m curious: what level did your tiefling wizard start at?

We joined the campaign in progress, because it was a couple old friends of ours, the younger brother of one of those friends, and a couple of his friends … and they all made characters that appealed to them, which meant a fighter, and a thief going for assassin, and like that. The older sister, one of said friends, had a bard and was having a tough time keeping the group going just with a couple cure light wounds every day, especially when the group would make a plan and then totally ignore it, get separated in combat, and end every fight with at least one person down.

Just played my first round of tabletop RPG ever. After a choir concert, the game folks in the group decided we really, really needed to play a campaign of Pathfinder with all bards. They roped me in (even though I’m clueless about games) by saying that I could kill people softly with my songs.

I live for puns and music jokes. Sorry.

We bent the rules a little: it ended up being 4 level 1 bards and one level 1 Skald. The Skald was named Bard though, so we still technically had 5 bards.

Never played Pathfinder. I was surprised that it took off so well when it came out. I guess a lot of people got irritated with 4E.

Bards are great, but my friend who was playing one started to get a little frazzled. She felt like the party’s success hinged on how well she performed as the face of the group. I wish she had said something during the course of the campaign, and I could have made sure to try and take on some of those tasks.

Ooooh, I just remembered: We played a little X-Crawl, which is what if D&D was an extreme [blood]sport, and my first character was a multi-classed fighter/bard, who presented in-game as a gnome luchadore. The bard levels were there to represent his ability to work a crowd and talk smack. He got done in by a cloaker, so I replaced him with a single-classed wizard who could substitute elements and was able to cast frostball. That didn’t help when it turns out formian ant-centaurs are highly resistant to almost all elemental damage, so he got torn apart.

You were in a spot where level adjustment works reasonably well, then. It works super badly at the very lowest levels — if you’re level 1 when everyone else is level 2 or 3, then you’re extremely likely to just randomly die. If you play up to really high levels, your natural abilities matter less and less. A 12th level wizard really doesn’t care about having small energy resistances and the ability to cast darkness. In the middle band where you have enough numbers for your core compentencies and the special abilities are noteworthy, level adjustment can work pretty well in that the characters are cool and can be played without noticeably upsetting the game. If you crunch the numbers you’ll find that being a Tiefling is substantially worse than being a human is at any and every level, but not so much that you can’t play one.

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